I'm 29. I got my Bac in Exercise Science, worked and then went back at 28 for a Master's in Physical Therapy. In my class, the AVG. age is 26 but we got a 35yo, a 38yo and 2 40yo. Lots of ppl come to PT later in life and dude- you get to massage and palpate 24yo chicks all day long!

I had 2 years of community under my belt already that transferred, but I started back again at 29 and won't graduate with my business degree til I'm 31. It's really hard working full time and doing that, but I try to look at it as a positive hobby. My resume is already pretty sick, but I really need that piece of paper to take me to the next level.

Real Name No Gimmicks - I didn't start CC until I was 24 (my current age). Yeah, I'm a loser.

Youre a loser if you find a way to screw it up. Like dropping out, or graduating and then getting a job that doesnt require a degree.

If you get done at 28 and use it to better your life, then its all good.

I was so obsessed with MMA that I started training almost full time right out of highschool. As I get older I find I have a real interest in a few areas but zero desire to have to go through general subjects again like Im back in highschool. Plus the areas Im interested in have very little opportunity to make reasonable money.

Imo, if you dont have a sport, passion, talent, hobby, etc that can support you, college is the best bet.

Went back to school last year, full time and still work full time, difficult but I am a late bloomer.

It's been said that one will change careers at least twice in thier lifetime, and judging by the posts, including mine, it seems to be true. Everyone should come to expect that, especially, in this rough econimic times.

Finishing a History degree and pursuing a degree in technology instruction, hoping to live off the taxpayers and work for the government or university. I have been a Respiratory Therapist for quite sometime, really intended to just 'be passing through" but stayed on because of several life changing issues. For one, in my area, its still high paying but really little mobility. So I stayed on mainly for financial reasons but I have come to a point where I have to decide to make a change for self-perfection reasons.

Since I am a creative guy with a history and technology background, I intend to work on history related documentaries and sell them to the media outlets. More as an entreprenural venture and self-satisfaction than anything else.

One, I am getting older, in my 40's, and the diseases these people that are coming in for treatment are drug resistant. Second, since I am getting older my immune system will take a beating. Third, I mentioned lack of mobility. In this field one can expect to just move around from facility to facility and hope for a better work environment, or hope its a better work environment at least for awhile. One can only move up to either a manage, director, or a lowly supervisor. The longevity in any one of those positions is not much, average about 3 years or so and long term prospects are not good. If any of you guys are considering this field don't! Better to become a nurse and move up the ranks and get better pay.

ReneH - Since I am a creative guy with a history and technology background, I intend to work on history related documentaries and sell them to the media outlets. More as an entreprenural venture and self-satisfaction than anything else.

I did alot of history TV work culminating in a couple pieces for the History channel.

Not to scare you off or anything, but it was boring as hell. The HC stuff I worked on was the talking head kind of interviews. The most exciting part was setting up the lights. Seriously.

Just a few suggestions, if you do local history pieces you can make decent coin, even in a relatively dead market.(I did these freelance for organizations celebrating their anniversaries and for video exhibits for museums).

Watch and learn from Ken Burns. Homie makes a picture of a piece of dirt look exciting. Also learn Photoshop pic restoration techniques as archival photos can usually use a touch up at the least.

The funny part is that TV burned me out and now I'm in law school (post 30).

Real Name No Gimmicks - I didn't start CC until I was 24 (my current age). Yeah, I'm a loser.<div id="refHTML"> </div>

Youre a loser if you find a way to screw it up. Like dropping out, or graduating and then getting a job that doesnt require a degree.

You are a loser if you graduate college and get a job that doesn't require a degree? You seem like a good guy, so I've given you the benefit of the doubt on things but statements like this make you seem really sheltered.

Well I don't know, but I agree with the people saying the age doesn't matter. I would gladly go back to school except...for the financial issue. I already have the student debt from my first degree (and am having a shit time in this economy), I don't really feel like accumulating more.

"You are a loser if you graduate college and get a job that doesn't require a degree?"

Are we talking your dream job that happejns to not require a degree? Or after having spent thousands of dollars on education to get a degree you then opt for a job you could have gotten 4 years ago with no degree?

Loser may be harsh, but the latter certainly makes no sense and shows a lack of planning.

HELWIG - "You are a loser if you graduate college and get a job that doesn't require a degree?"

Loser may be harsh, but the latter certainly makes no sense and shows a lack of planning.<br type="_moz" />

Unless you go into engineering, accounting, or the medical field it's kind of a gamble that you'll get the job you want. If this happens you still have to pay the bills, so a job not pertaining to your degree becomes necessary. I'm not really sure how "loser" enters into it.

Im talking about going and getting a degree and then getting a job which requires NO DEGREE AT ALL. One that you could have gotten without going to school. I have friends that did this and it makes no sense.

Its one thing to do work that has nothing to do with your degree.

But what is the point in paying to learn stuff you could learn on your own for free just to do a job that doesnt require college?

Im talking about going and getting a degree and then getting a job which requires NO DEGREE AT ALL. One that you could have gotten without going to school. I have friends that did this and it makes no sense.

Its one thing to do work that has nothing to do with your degree.

But what is the point in paying to learn stuff you could learn on your own for free just to do a job that doesnt require college?

You are still being naive or narrow-minded, especially if you consider this economy. I went to college, and its hell finding a job. Everyone wants you to have experience, but noone wants to give you the fucking experience (thats just one example its more complicated than that though).

Right now Im trying to get an apprenticeship in a skilled trade (which doesn't require a college degree), and I think that is a good idea. A skilled trade is probably much better than most college degrees now (for many reasons), and I don't feel like a loser for it-though I might feel like I wasted my time and money along the way. College was fun though atleast. :/

I was using the people I knew as an example. Theres all kinds of unique situations. If you sent your kid to college and he wound up being a bartender or lifeguard after youd probably feel like it was a waste of money if thats what he was going to do anyway.

Im talking about going and getting a degree and then getting a job which requires NO DEGREE AT ALL. One that you could have gotten without going to school. I have friends that did this and it makes no sense.

Its one thing to do work that has nothing to do with your degree.

But what is the point in paying to learn stuff you could learn on your own for free just to do a job that doesnt require college?

You are still being naive or narrow-minded, especially if you consider this economy. I went to college, and its hell finding a job. Everyone wants you to have experience, but noone wants to give you the fucking experience (thats just one example its more complicated than that though).

Right now Im trying to get an apprenticeship in a skilled trade (which doesn't require a college degree), and I think that is a good idea. A skilled trade is probably much better than most college degrees now (for many reasons), and I don't feel like a loser for it-though I might feel like I wasted my time and money along the way. College was fun though atleast. :/

I am going exactly through that. I've been a year unemployed. I got my college degree in 2008, and had some shitty jobs, but nothing what I was expecting. Everyone expects you to have skills and experience. I feel like a fuckin idiot for going to college, I should have just become an technician and would have made some $$$.

I'm not sure where you are from Helwig but the majority of students upon graduation do not get graduate jobs. Even before the recession there was not enough jobs being created that could be done by people that had a degree and no experience. In the recession companies are trying to cut costs so it makes sense that they dont want to pay to train recent graduates and only employ people with experience that can jump straight into a job.

If a person cannot get a graduate job i'd say they have maybe 3 choices:

1) Take a job they will enjoy

2) Take a job that will give them experience that will help get them to where they want to be (this may mean workig for free or for very little)

3) Take a job that pays as much as possible and will pay whatever debt they have from being a student as quickly as possible

The problem is that there are less and less opportunities out there for graduates with an undrgraduate degree. In Europe there are far to many graduates at undergraduate level. A good amount of the time to get where you want to be a masters degree is now necessary but due to graduates being in so much debt after an undergraduate degree the cost is a major barrier to entry.

Of all the people that i went to university with that i still talk to i earn more than them yet i work in the security industry. I'm currently saving to do a masters degree and i'm confident that i will get to where i want to be in the end but it is not easy knowing that i studied for 4 years to do a mind numbing job.

I know many people that are in the situation that i have described and i know many that got out of it by doing a masters degree. From what i read on these forums maybe it is different for graduates in the USA (and other countries) but it would surprise me if what you are saying is not naive or narrow-minded as another member has suggested. Unless you are studying a subject that gives you a specific in demand skill at undergraduate level then i do not think it is worth going to university or college in the current economic climate. But i will add that if you are going to start now and graduate in the next 4 years then it might turn out to be a positive life changing decision.

I can see where you are coming from for sure i thought the same when i was still a student but i learned differently when i graduated. I still think getting a degree is very worthwhile i just think that it needs to be in an area where there are either skills shortages in the country you reside in. Or in a suject area that the person is interested in so that they are happy to learn and not necessarily follow a career path in the area that they have studied.

I just dont think that degrees are as useful or valuable as they were 10 or 15 years ago. They have been devalued to a large extent by universities and colleges becoming businesses rather than research facilities. As a business a university want to fill as many places as possible. You also have to consider that higher education is far more accessible than it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Regardless of the details, if more of the population gains something (a degree) it goes down in value. When only 5% of high school students went on to get a degree, obviously you wouldn't find a waiter with a degree. But when 50% of high school students have a college degree, that'll happen.

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